Lyrical Therapy
by Carla Coleman
Summary: The end of the war yielded tranquility for the most of the Wizarding World, but not Neville Longbottom and he vanishes. Three years later, the trio and company encounter some unexpected surprises on Ginny's birthday.
1. Chapter 1

This is an experimental fic for me. It happens to be based around a lot of songs and the main album is James Morrison's _Undiscovered_. For some reason, some of his music makes me think about Neville of all people and his place in the world. Again, I have a faint direction of where I want to go with this story. Let me know if it is something worth continuing. Enjoy.

**Lyrical Therapy**

August 15, 2004, London

It was a day of triumph for the Wizarding World. Harry Potter had finally defeated the Dark Lord with the backing of the Order of the Phoenix. After almost ten years of strife, searching, death, and darkness, the Wizarding World was finally allowed some semblance of peace. There was a continuous flow of traffic through Grimmauld Place as people flooed and portkey between the ministry, Hogwarts, and St. Mungos, where some of the hero's rested. Unless the person was a sympathizer of Voldemort or had recently lost someone, one would think there would be happiness abound for everyone. However, that was not the case.

If there had been someone at Grimmauld Place, they would see one troubled young man drenched in blood running up the stairs like his very life depended on it. They would see a young man grabbing only his bare necessities, that being an extra pair of clothes, a Gringotts key, family documents, and his guitar. All shrunk down to fit in a muggle backpack. They would see him taking in the house before walking out the front to never be seen by its other occupants for almost three years. They would have seen one of their heroes leave the Wizarding World and for the record, he was not Harry Potter.

February 2007, Soho

"You are lucky it's your birthday Weaselette. This guy better be good in order to have me freezing my bits off here in the middle of winter. I can't even cast a warming charm. The damn line is wrapped around the building. Couldn't you have just reserved seats?" One Draco Malfoy complained while waiting for the doors of the Astoria to open.

"I will admit a better venue could have been chosen. Nate Henderson was nominated for artist of the year. I would think that would realize more people would be coming to the shows now. " Ginny replied looking around at all the people who were behind them and around the building. "I don't know if everyone is going to fit in. That's why we needed to get here early so we could get good seats and also to pick up my backstage passes. Anyways, the doors should be opening soon and your precious Malfoy family jewels will not fall off."

"Merlin Gin! I don't need to hear anything about Malfoy's jewels." Ron cut in looking like he about to loose the dinner that he just put down.

"He's right." A female voice spoke up. "I definitely don't want to hear anything about Malfoy's jewels falling off. I would have to admit, I would be slightly disappointed."

Malfoy immediately stopped rubbing his gloved hands together and raised an eyebrow. "Only slightly disappointed Granger? Not inconsolably distraught? "

Hermione exchanged glances with Ginny before speaking with a straight face. "They are just jewels. They can be replaced." She took silent glee at the twitch that started in Malfoy's left eye.

"Can we please change the topic from Draco's balls please? As a guy, I don't want to hear anything about another blokes jewels and I definitely don't want to hear anything about them falling off or them being removed in any shape or fashion."

"Well said Potter. You're my boy Drake, but I don't need nightmares."

"Shove off Blaise. What this? Dump on Malfoy night?"

"That's every night. We just don't want to hear about your nonexistent balls."

"Weaselette brought it-" Draco started before realizing Pansy's dig. "Nonexistent! You just flat out lied. I know you are not talking Parkinson. You-"

"Shut up Malfoy. They're opening the doors." Ginny interrupted as the line started moving. "You guys go and grab some seats at the front while I try to find the person with my passes."

As Ginny and her group separated in the lobby, they paid no attention to the gentlemen on the cell phone gaping in shock. This gentleman paid no attention to the response he was trying to illicit from his en route drummer. Hanging up the phone, he promised himself that he would apologize to Anthony as he rushed down towards the lower levels of the club where Nate's dressing room was and banged incessantly.

The door opened and Nate walked back over to where he was tuning his guitar. "Where's the fire Perce?"

After pacing the length of the dressing room, a few times he looked at his client, his only client, his friend. "We've got a problem Nate."

Nate hadn't seen Percy this wound up in a while. Realizing the situation was more serious than originally intended, he turned his full attention to Percy. "What type of problem?"

Running his hand through his now brunette hair with highlights, he turned to Nate. "I saw my brother and sister upstairs along with a bunch of your old classmates and fellow Order members. To add injury to insult, it appears that Gin is the one who won the back stage passes contest out of all people. When did she start listening to muggle music?"

Processing that information, Nate took a deep breath and only responded with one word. "OK"

"Ok? That is all you're going to say Neville? Ok?" Percy asked looking at Neville Longbottom now known as Nate Henderson as if he had lost his mind.

"We knew this was going to happen sooner or later, especially with the album picking up popularity. I have slain my demons and so have you. I have been trying to convince you to go to the Burrow for the past six months." He said standing to get a bottle of water from the mini bar.

"It's not that simple."

Taking a sip of water, Nate responded. "Isn't it? You apologize for your transgressions and tell them about any transgressions you believe were committed on their part. They can take it or leave it. That's all you can do. You will know that you have done what you were supposed to do and will be at peace. The ball would then be in their field."

"When did you become so wise?"

Running a hand through bronze colored locks, he smiled "Since I started believing I was wise and systematically told anyone who said otherwise to fuck off. In my head at least." He went back to pick up his guitar and looked at Percy.

Percy couldn't help but smile at that. He was about to respond when his cell started ringing. Checking the time on the phone along with the number, he went back into manager mode. "You got 20 minutes Nev. Blow them away. I'll be back in 15."

Neville nodded in response. "Will do. And you are still playing tonight?" It wasn't a question. Percy nodded and Neville went back to his tuning.

As Percy got towards the end of the hall, he heard Neville start to warm up vocally. _Here comes nothing. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: **I own none of the songs & none of the characters.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

"Whoa. How did you guys manage to get front and center?" Ginny asked as she took a seat in between Harry and Hermione.

"Speed and cunning." Draco blinked twice at Ron's reply.

"What your brother means is that he developed a case of flatulence so bad that the area was almost considered a biohazard. It is only our sad luck that we have become immune to its effects with time."

With cheeks tinged red in embarrassment, Ron glared at the Slytherin. "Look. That food just didn't agree with me. No need to write a book about it Malfoy."

Draco nodded in response. "I'll leave you alone tonight for two reasons. One, it is your sister's birthday. And two, your abhorring behavior worked in our advantage for once."

"Oh, don't I feel honored." Ron stated deadpanned.

"And that you should."

"Git."

"Prat."

"Nancy boy!"

"Barbarian."

Hermione cut through the name-calling. "God. How old are you two? The lights are going down."

With that all attention turned to the stage where they saw all the members of the band take their place on stage. Harry whispered in her ear. "Which one is Nate?"

Ginny being the one to introduce them all to his music was deemed the official Nate Henderson expert of the group. Matter of fact, with the exception of Hermione, she was the only one who knew what Nate looked like. Looking closer at the stage, she noticed he wasn't up there yet. "He's not onstage yet."

As soon as the words left her mouth, the object of the audience curiosities walked onto the stage with his guitar and bottle of water in hand. For someone who had grown so popular, she had to admit that she was shocked that he donned only a black button down shirt and blue jeans with boots. However, she was amused by the look on his face when the stage lights came on and the loud applause that followed. If she didn't know better, it would seem that he was surprised about something, but masked it quickly. As he went on fixing the guitar straps to his body, Ginny finally took note of the exclamations coming from her group, namely Harry's "Bloody Hell" and Hermione's "Oh my God."

"What is it Hermione?" She asked her friend who had her hand over her mouth in what appeared to be shock. Harry answered for her.

"The guitarist Gin. Look at the guitarist to the right." Turning her head to that direction, she would have sworn that Ron was on stage instead of sitting two seats down from her if the guitarist's hair would have had Ron's ginger red rather than the strawberry blonde it appeared to be and that was still cutting it too close in her books. Looking over Hermione's head, she set her eyes on Ron to see him gaping at the guitarist as much as the others. He really did need to close his mouth though. Just as she was about to voice that thought, Malfoy beat her to it.

"Shut your mouth Weasley before he thinks you ogling him." Even in the dark, she could visualize the flush that would come over Ron's face with those words. Before Ron could respond however, Nate finally spoke.

"Wow, I really wasn't expecting this much of a crowd. It would appear I've come a little ways from playing out on the corners. I'm just a guy who wanted to be heard. Again, I thank you guys for coming out tonight and thank you for your support in general. Now, are guys ready to hear some music?" At that question, applause and exclamation filled the room.

"I guess that means yes. Well, we are going to start things off with a Wonderful World." Then Ginny heard the familiar dropping of the beat that signified the beginning of the song.

_I been down so low _

_People look at me and they know_

_They can tell something is wrong_

_Like I don't belong _

To Ginny, there was nothing like seeing someone play live. No radio or CD would be able to tell her how close Nate related to this song. By the sheepish smile he flashed after the first stanza, she would guess a lot. A wistful look passed over his face as he glanced over the audience.

_Staring through a window_

_Standing outside, they're just too happy to care tonight_

_I want to be like them _

_But I'll mess it up again_

_I tripped on my way in_

_And got kicked outside, everybody saw…_

No matter how many times she had heard this song, his crescendo into the chorus never failed to chill her. Glancing at Pansy, she knew she wasn't the only one judging by the stunned look on her face.

_And I know that it's a wonderful world _

_But I can't feel it right now_

_Well I thought that I was doing well_

_But I just want to cry now _

_Well I know that it's a wonderful world_

_From the sky down to the sea_

_But I can only see it when you're here, here with me_

This next verse always pulled at her heart strings.

_Sometimes I feel so full of love _

_It just comes spilling out_

_It's uncomfortable to see _

_I give it away too easily_

_But if someone I would do anything _

_I'd never, never, ever let you feel alone_

_I won't I won't leave you on your own_

At this point he seemed to be looking in their direction, which Ginny found funny since this second verse had always made her think of Harry considering all that he had went through. She found herself reaching for his hand before she could even think about it. His pain. His lost. Almost summed up in nine little phrases.

_Who am I to dream?_

_Dreams are for fools; they let you down… _

She could also hear the anger in that second crescendo before she decided to stop analyzing the music and just enjoy the music. _It's your birthday damn it. Stop thinking about the bad times._ Deciding to glance around at the others and noted that everyone else appeared to be enjoying themselves. Hermione was singing along. Ron and Zabini, who happened to be a harsh critic, were nodding their heads to the beat. Malfoy at least didn't appear to dislike it while Harry was tapping his fingers rhythmically along on the table. Pansy was entranced not that Ginny could blame her. She was same when she very first heard him. His voice was smooth yet rough. Undeniably male and it kind of called to you. Demanded your attention. She felt herself blush at the thoughts and turned herself back to the performance to see him finishing the final notes.

_And I know that it's a wonderful world when you're with me_


	3. Chapter 3

**Note:** I own none of the songs and none of the characters.

* * *

**Chapter Three  
**

The crowd was hyped as the concert turned out. All around conversations were going on commenting on how well Nate sounded. Some were commenting on the club or party they were going to next. Regardless of the conversation, there seemed to be an overall sense of energy and positivity amongst the concertgoers and that was no different for Ginny and her group as she made her way backstage to meet Nate.

"So what did you guys think? You can't tell me that wasn't brilliant." Hermione said as she followed Ginny to the alcove leading backstage.

"It's not a genre I usually listen to, but I liked it. Great voice." Harry responded.

"Strong endorsement coming from the man that almost fainted when he thought he saw Dave Grohl in Paddington Station." Blaise replied.

"Are you guys ever going to let me forget that?"

"No." Six voices replied.

Draco continued. "It's not everyday you see Harry Potter: Boy-Who-Lived and hater of all things celebrity and fame related go fan girl on us."

"What can I say? The Foo Fighters and Green Day got me through some tough times." Harry responded while shooting a glare at Draco. "Anyways, we are not talking about Foo. We are talking about Nate Henderson. What did you think Malfoy?"

"He's was alright." Was the grumbled response.

"Was he alright before or after he started serenading Hermione?" Harry asking with a smile in his voice remembering the death glares the singer was getting during the performance from the blonde.

Pansy perked up turning to Hermione. "You lucky witch! You should have seen the look on some of those girls faces when he came up to you. If they have had the power, I believe you would have probably had some pustules or something else nasty thrown your way by the looks they were giving. Hell, I was jealous."

"Well, I wasn't surprised considering that Hermione is dressed to kill tonight. He probably did want you to give you him something." Ginny threw in her two sickles glancing at the witch who looked radiant in a simple outfit of jeans and a fitted blazer with stiletto heels. Her bushy hair smoothed out into glossy voluminous curls giving her a style that made her look feral yet regal at the same time.

Hermione still couldn't contain her blush. "I don't know what you guys are talking about. You guys look great also, but back to the concert. He sounds great live."

"Tell me about it. The only thing I was disappointed about was that he didn't sing _'Call the Police'_". Ginny replied.

"Okay. A song about muggle aurors, right?" Ron asked.

Making her way to the approaching security guard, she handed him her backstage pass and gave her last name. "Something like that, but not quite. You just have to hear it."

As the security guard motioned for them to follow him, Blaise decided to add his opinion. "He has a good voice. I'm impressed with his control more than anything else. A lot of people with a voice that strong have a tendency to over sing the song and run it into the ground. He knows when to pull back and keep it from becoming straight shouting."

"Goodness Blaise. You didn't have to get all technical with us. She just wanted to know if you like it." Pansy replied.

"She asked. I gave." Blaise response resonated as they were led into a room with plenty of sofas and a mini-bar in the corner, but no Nate or anyone else for that matter.

Seeing the room empty, the security guard turned to the guests. "Nate and his manager should probably be in soon. He more than likely went back to his dressing room to cool off and clean up before meeting with you guys. So have a seat and feel free to help yourself to anything in the mini-bar."

Ron didn't have to be told twice as he was over at the bar pouring himself a drink before the guard even left the room to the chagrin of his sister. Seeing the others looking at him, he shrugged. "What?"

Choosing to ignore him, Ginny turned to Hermione. "Any minute now. Can you believe it? It's so much I want to ask him about his songs."

"It also helps that he's kind of sexy, but in a different way. Not classical yet not rugged either. I can't put my finger on it." Pansy chimed in ignoring the eye roll that came from Malfoy.

Harry raised an eyebrow in response. "A different kind of sexy?"

"Don't start her on that Potter. We'll be here all night." Draco replied reclining into one of the couches making himself at home.

* * *

One floor down and two rooms over, a different discussion was going on.

"They have backstage passes to meet and hang out with Nate Henderson. It didn't say anything about anyone else." Percy said checking the room to make sure they had all their belongings before leaving.

"Don't be a daft piece of chickenshit. You know these meet and greets usually mean the inclusion of my manager and some security. We can forgo the security for obvious reasons." Neville stated pulling a clean shirt over his head.

The ex-redhead frowned as he paced the dressing room. "Can we be so sure of that? I haven't seen them in almost ten years. You think Ron's going to say 'Long time no see Percy. I'll tell mum you said hi.' I think not. That's if Ginny doesn't hex me where I stand first. I may very well need that security."

Picking up his guitar case, coat, and bag, he turned to Percy with something resembling a smirk. "Well, it could always be worse. It could be Fred and George up there."

"Don't give me nightmares."

Despite the joking nature exchanged between two, Neville knew that Percy was really bothered about his imminent family reunion and whether or not he would accepted back in. Having been in the odd position of hearing both sides of the conflict over the past decade, Neville knew first hand just how much anger, hurt, and pain had been passed around. He also knew that while Percy was wrong in respects to the Dumbledore, Harry, and Voldemort issue, it was tip of the iceberg in regards to Percy's precarious situation with his family and he wasn't totally in the wrong on all the issues. Percy wasn't just his manager, he was also a friend, one of two who probably understood him better than anyone else on the earth and knew some of his demons. After ten years, this issue had time to stew and that wasn't a good thing. He promised himself he wouldn't let Percy get ganged up on. The Weasleys had each other. Percy had him and it was time for this to stop.

Taking the smirk off his face, Neville walked towards door. "Every member of your family survived. Do you not realize how lucky you are? I will leave you to think on that for a minute. But if you do not have your freckly arse up those stairs in ten minutes, I will not be held responsible for my actions." With that, he left Percy with his own thoughts. As he made his way towards the stairway, he bumped into his lead guitarist Daniel who could go for Ronald Weasley's twin and an idea formed in his head as he looked at the blonde.

"Dan. Just the man I wanted to see."

* * *

Only five minutes had passed in the room, but to Ginny and Hermione, it felt like it had been hours for different reasons. For Ginny, Nate Henderson was her favorite muggle singer and considered it serendipity that Hermione had her radio on one night when they were getting ready to go out. She felt like she had to sit down when she very first heard "You Give Me Something" and was addicted for there continuously hounding Hermione for information and additional tracks until she became a fan herself.

For Hermione on the other hand, she was beyond nervous and flabbergasted. "You Give Me Something" was her favorite song on the album and she was personally serenaded to by Nate. She wasn't attracted to him or anything like that, but it still made a girl feel special and little bit awkward. She also had to inwardly smirk at the look Draco had on his face during the performance. She just hoped he wouldn't be an arse to Nate when he came in. Looking at her boyfriend of two years, she was still baffled by the fact that they were a couple. Just as she began to reminisce, she was pulled from her thoughts by the door opening.

All head turned towards the door and were shocked, but not shocked in the way they expected. Nate wasn't the person standing at the door, but it was Ron's blonde doppelganger. As his blue eyes scanned over all of them, his eyes widened when he laid eyes on Ron. Closing the door, he ventured further into the room giving everyone a smile.

Then he jarred everyone with an American accent. "Nate had a slight hang up. He hasn't forgotten about you and he should be in here any minute now. Matter of fact, I was sent here personally by him to hang out with you guys until he arrives." Taking a long look at Ron, he draped himself on a couch diagonal from the group like he owned it. "I guess I can see why he sent me."

A smirk appeared on his face as he took a long look at Ron. "I don't mean this a come on, but you are one very attractive man."

Catching on to the joke and ignoring the eye rolls coming from both Blaise and Draco, Ron reached his hand across the table to offer his hand trying to appear smooth as possible. "Thank you. I have to say you are very attractive yourself. The name's Ronald Weasley." He said as he fought the urge to laugh.

The blonde blinked slowly while shaking Ron's hand. "Damn. Weasley?" At Ron's nod, he continued. "Interesting. I'm Daniel Wesley, Nate's lead guitarist."

The group of seven looked at each other in shock. Hermione, being the first to recover, brightened with the prospect of a possible puzzle. "Can you spell your last name please?"

"W-E-S-L-E-Y" Shaking his head, Dan ran his hand through his blonde locks. "Unbelievable. Well they say everyone has a twin. I guess I have two."

Ron's articulate replied. "Huh?"

"I have a twin sister." The strawberry blonde stated.

"Oh. What year were you born?" Ron asked.

"82'. Why?"

"Ha! You look like me. I was born in 1980." Ron looking genuinely excited.

"Wow. You get a cookie." Dan responded deadpan.

"Huh?"

"Damn Brits. Um… What is it? …Biscuit! Yes, you get a biscuit."

Ron looked perplexed. "Why would I get a biscuit?"

"He was being sarcastic you git." Draco chimed in.

"Oh…Hey!"

Hermione decided it was time to cut in. "If you're American, how did you get over here playing guitar for Nate Henderson?"

Tilting his head to the side in thought, he answered the question. "Well, it's actually a long story. After I graduated from college, I just wanted to take sometime to travel and do some fun stuff before I move on to law school. A side project of my sister and I was to trace our family history. She took my mother's side while I took my father's side. Information from my great grandfather puts us here and in Ireland. So I decided to backpack across Western Europe concentrating mainly on the British isles. As for the guitar playing, I had been playing since I was twelve and I had always wanted to say I had been in a band. You only live once you know and I just thought this would bring me some cool memories to look back on. I knew Nate was talented, but I had no idea he was going to blow up so damn big."

"Neither did I." Everyone's head turned towards the door to see Nate Henderson and a curly haired brunette with silver framed glasses. As the duo moved further into the room, Ginny noticed that the bespectacled brunette looked awfully familiar. As she watched him move and sit down across from her, it dawned on her who it was with the name slipping out not even noticing that she interrupted Nate. "Percy?"


End file.
